When the University of Minnesota officially approaches Colorado State shooting star Niko Medved for its basketball coach opening, here’s some advice — not that he needs it.

Do it. Pack a parka and lock in a six- or seven-year contract at $3 million-plus per year.

That’s hardly because I’m trying to get rid of a fantastic 51-year-old coach who will lead 12th-seeded Colorado State against fifth-seeded Memphis in the NCAA Tournament on Friday.

No, I go way back as a true believer in the Niko Way.

But college ball is different now. Way different. It’s not the same game it was “10 years ago,” as Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams said Wednesday at Ball Arena as the Big Dance crashed LoDo.

Try five years ago.

Shoot, Yale coach James Jones cited the betting line for Yale-Texas A&M.

“It’s a 7.5-point line,” Jones said. “Nobody thinks we’re any good.”

It’s a whole new world at the best event in sports.

Another example of the times a’ changing: While BYU was warming up at Ball Arena in preparation for Thursday’s first-round games, it was revealed on “X” that McNeese State coach Will Wade is leaving for N.C. State. Wade, mind you, is still coaching McNeese State. They play Clemson in the tournament Thursday.

One non-BYU coach whispered to me: “You couldn’t wait until after you lose?”

You could, but the transfer portal opens Monday. Poaching the portal waits for no man.

That’s the other reason — aside from the pay raise, the main reason — why Medved and the other hot commodities in the Big Dance would be silly to forego job offers. VCU wouldn’t be here without the five players it plucked from the portal — or the NIL deal it struck for star guard Max Shulga so he wouldn’t leave. Montana’s here because it brought in nine new players and patiently allowed them to mesh. It’s the same story up and down your 68-team bracket that’s about to bust.

“It’s hard,” Montana coach Travis DeCuire told me. “This thing has gotten very difficult.”

Building programs with three-, four- or five-year players has gone the way of baggy shorts.

The cool kids aren’t rocking them anymore.

The best way to explain it came from VCU coach Ryan Odom, who said: “I say it every year to our team: this team has one life to live, and let’s make the most of this life that we have together.”

College ball now is a one-year contract where the next year is a maybe — for players and coaches, who know they’re often one bad season away from getting fired. Cash in now.

With rosters being turned over en masse, a coach can’t count on the fact he will have all his good players back. So it’s naive to believe other programs aren’t sniffing around Colorado State guard Kyan Evans, a sophomore revelation, or fellow sophomore Jaylen Crocker-Johnson.

Hopefully they stick around, but can you blame a 20-year-old for chasing a lucrative NIL offer? With Rams star Nique Clifford bound for the NBA, Medved’s Rams could be starting over.

I won’t blame Medved if he does, too, in the Big Ten.

The University of Denver rode the struggle bus to a seventh-place finish in the Summit League. Still, guards DeAndre Craig and Sebastian Akins entered the transfer portal and already have high-major interest. The Pios are starting over.

It’s astounding what Medved has done at CSU. For real. He’s taken CSU to three tournaments in four years, a feat not accomplished in Fort Fun since the 1960s. Clifford will be the best player in CSU’s two games in Seattle. A Sweet 16’s possible.

CSU has done right by Medved, too. He genuinely loves Fort Collins. His annual salary of $1.7 million ranks second in the Mountain West, trailing only San Diego State’s Brian Dutcher.

CSU can’t match the salaries of the Big Ten, whether it’s Wisconsin’s Greg Gard at $3.8 million (the Badgers are in Denver and will bring “a sea of red,” as one player said) or Michigan’s Dusty May at $3.6 million (so is Big Blue).

Perhaps — think on the bright side! — Medved could become CSU’s James Jones, who has Yale back in the tournament in his 26th season with the Ivy League program.

“Well, no one has pursued me,” Jones told me.

That won’t be the case with Medved. He’s a Minnesota grad and former student manager for the Gophers. He grew up in nearby Roseville. He recruited NBA draft pick David Roddy out of Minnesota. And there’s no place like home.

What are coaches on the move looking for? Long-term contracts. Darian DeVries left West Virginia for a six-year deal at Indiana. With rosters flipping year-over-year, security rules.

This is pure speculation, but so is picking a bracket. So here goes: Colorado is the epicenter of NCAA Tournament coaches making job auditions over the next 48 hours. Montana’s DeCuire, VCU’s Odom and UC San Diego’s Eric Olen all fit the profile of coaches whose success will draw another athletics director’s attention.

There’s also a virtual guarantee of other big-time coaches following the retirement lead of Tony Bennett, Jay Wright, Roy Williams and Jim Boeheim and calling game.

“A lot of it is where the game is headed,” DeCuire told me, adding, “I do see a lot of guys walking away or talking about walking away.”

I counted 68 coaching changes in Division I ball in 2024. ESPN reported 69. Whatevs. It’s a ton.

Like it or not, the transfer portal now has a pair of exit ramps: One for players, one for coaches.